Rodeo kicks off at the Bannock County Fair

Afternoon showers couldn’t keep people from heading to Downey for the fourth day of the Bannock County Fair.

From goats to pigs and bulls, there were many things to see on Thursday afternoon. With food trucks and 4-H competitions underway, preparations were being made for one of the fair’s biggest events, the rodeo.

“Oh, it’s huge,” Colleen Erickson, club advisor for the Marsh Valley High School rodeo club, explained.

“It’s been here for years. Everybody looks forward to the fair. It lasts two days. We have outside contestants come in, we have locals that are competing. The fair’s a really big deal.”

This year, the rodeo is getting some extra assistance from members of the Marsh Valley rodeo club.

“Sorting the calves, having everything ready, they work in the strip and shoots, taking off ropes, taking off rough stock equipment,” Erickson said, “just whatever we need done, they have to do.”

This is the first year the club has made a coordinated effort to take part.

“Our kids will usually end up helping somehow,” Erickson explained. “But this year, they have a lot more responsibility.”

Marsh Valley senior Brooke Morris is among those handling the heightened responsibilities

“It’s cool because it’s a lot bigger than our little, small rodeos,” she said. “We just will open gates and take ropes off and stuff. We’re just here to help.”

As a member of the rodeo club, Morris enjoys getting active in both barrels and breakaway roping, using different horses for each event.

“How do you decide which one is for which, is it the speed? Yeah, a little bit and my barrels horse is a little more agile, she can turn better,” Morris responded.

One of her favorite parts of competing is the connection.

“I just like interacting with the animal and it’s all on you,” she said.

In addition to assisting with the rodeo events, the club was taking tickets as a fundraiser.